


To the Tower

by prolixology



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Field Trip, Gen, Irondad, M/M, Peter Parker's Field Trip to Stark Industries, Precious Peter Parker, Stark Tower, Tony Stark Has A Heart, and he gets a tiny tiny tiny but of redemption, but like not that bad?, flash thompson is a bully, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 00:43:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17254430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prolixology/pseuds/prolixology
Summary: If everything would actually go according to plan, then Peter might actually make it through this field trip unscathed. If. Of course, there was always the chance Flash would say something particularity stupid, which Peter considered to be almost impressive, considering his usual-unusually low standards, but Peter prayed that wouldn’t happen. Besides, it was his senior field trip, absolute last one, and he had made it though most of them (excluding his past two trips, but who’s counting?) unscathed, so why would a trip to Stark Tower be any different?





	To the Tower

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first fic that's over 5k words! Feel free to leave criticism but like don't be mean please? Un-betaed bc i have no friends

If everything would actually go according to plan, then Peter might actually make it through this field trip unscathed. If. Of course, there was always the chance Flash would say something particularity stupid, which Peter considered to be almost impressive, considering his usual-unusually low standards, but Peter prayed that wouldn’t happen. Besides, it was his senior field trip, absolute last one, and he had made it though most of them (excluding his past two trips, but who’s counting?) unscathed, so why would a trip to Stark Tower be any different?    


Sure, when Mr. Harrington announced it, he thought it would surely bring his early demise, especially considering the number of heads that immediately whipped around to look at him after the announcement. But, after a long, thought-out talk with Pepper, it should, most likely go well. Most likely. 

“Dude, are you ready for a tour of basically your house?” Ned whispered, shifting back and forth on the dull grey bus seat.    


Peter rolled his eyes, leaning into Ned’s shoulder and intertwining their fingers. “I told you, like a bajillion times, Mama Pep has me covered. We have a plan.”    


“Do you think the Avengers will be there?”   


“Nah, I made sure most of them were upstate. Nat’s still here though, and Dad, but they’re both chill enough so that’s clear.” Peter said. “Not sure about Thor though.” He added, shuddering at the thought of him or Loki showing up during the trip. That would be disastrous; his secret would be as good as gone.   


Ned let out a dramatic sigh. “One can only hope.”    


MJ rolled her eyes from across the aisle, having clearly overheard the entire conversation. “Keep on hoping, big guy”

Peter stared at him. “You’ve literally met most of them before. You’ve been in Thor’s room.”

“Hey Penis,” Flash hissed, leaning his whole body over the seat in front of them. “You excited for everyone to find out your internship is fake?”   


As Ned gave his hand a squeeze, Peter just shook his head in annoyance and rolled his eyes dramatically enough to give Tony a run for his money. After coming back from the snap, Mr. Stark offered him an actual internship, albeit a special one considering the amount of time spent in Stark’s personal lab. The internship slowly morphed into Peter spending every weekend at Stark Tower (weekdays were still with May and equally important to Peter), and Mr. Stark slowly morphed to Tony, then eventually, Dad.   
Peter pulled out his (yet to be officially launched) Stark phone and shot Tony and Pepper a quick message.   
****

**Dad, Pepper**

**Peter** : about 5 minutes out

**Pepper** : Okay sweetie, don’t forget your glasses, earbuds, and pass. It’s going to go great. 

**Dad** :  And don’t be surprised if I come say hi ;)   
****

**Peter** : omg dad no   


Ned leaned over Peter’s shoulder, reading the messages. “But it be so cool if we saw him!”   


Peter stared at him. “You literally see him at least every other weekend.”   


“But it’s still Iron Man!”   


Peter opted to quit arguing and pull out his glasses. He slid the dark frames onto his nose and let out an involuntary sigh of relief as the world slipped into a softer pink tone. His relief was heightened when he put in his earpieces, which, while looking like a normal pair of Starkpods (the latest and greatest wireless earbuds), reduced his hearing down to almost normal. 

“Hey Peennisss.”

Peter suddenly wished his earpieces knocked out even more sound. 

“Hey I’m talking to you Parker,” Flash said. 

Peter’s eyes flicked up from his phone. “What do you want Flash?” 

“How do you think Tony Stark will feel if he hears that you use his company to try and get more popular?” 

Peter shook his head. “Like he would actually care about a high schooler spreading rumors. Besides,” Peter said, taking out his badge and dangling it in front of Flash’s face. “It’s real.”

Flash grabbed the card and looked it over. He tossed it back, making a face. “It’s fake.”

“And you would know a real one?”

“Yeah, it wouldn’t have the name Peter Parker on it.”

Peter rolled his eyes again and looked back at his phone. 

**Dad, Pepper**

**Peter:** if i don’t kill flash by the end of this trip…

**Dad:** Then I will

**Pepper** : Usually I don’t condone murder, especially in my tower, but I just might make an exception. 

“Guys, look!” A classmate, Cindy, said. Outside the slightly open bus window was Stark Tower in all its glory. The building gleamed brilliantly, towering over New York. While the majority of the class gawked at it, Peter barely spared it a glance and returned to his phone. 

“Okay class, when we get off this bus, I expect all of you to be on your absolute best behavior.” Mr. Harrington said, giving Peter a pointed look. 

Immediately, students stood up and began flooding the aisle, Ned included. Peter sat and waited for most of them to pass. Just as he was about to get off the bus, “Mr. Parker,” Mr. Harrington said. “You need to take out your earbuds. You know the rules.”

Peter knew this was coming. “Sir, I need them for inside the Tower. They help me.”

Mr. Harrington frowned. “I don’t know why you would need music during the tour. Take them out.”

“But-“

“Now.”

Peter sighed, taking them out. He cringed as his world returned to its usual, scathingly loud state. Leaving the bus, the buzz of the street was nearly unbearable. He could already hear the sounds of the labs, of moving equipment, voices, and the occasional pop of a (controlled) explosion. 

Following his class into the tower was ten times worse than what he expected. Every noise amplified. Peter looked around frantically trying to find something to reground himself. He felt the panic swell within him and the tower became too big and too small all in the same breath.

A hand placed itself on his shoulder. Peter whipped around, ready to defend himself, instead finding a kind face framed by strawberry blonde hair. He slumped over in relief. “Pepper.”

“Hey sweetheart,” she whispered, knowing the teenager could hear her. She soothingly rubbed his back.  “Where are your earbuds?”

“Mr. Harrington made me take them out.”

Pepper frowned. “Stay here. I’ll go talk to him, okay?” 

Peter nodded. Ned came up in front of him, gently grabbing his and rubbing soothing circles with his thumbs. “Hey, Peter just focus on my words, okay babe? Just me, nothing else.” He said quietly. Peter was vaguely aware that the entire class was staring at him, half confused, half concerned. Instead of acknowledging it, he turned to watch Pepper. Ned kept talking and Peter tried to narrow his focus to just Ned’s words, touch, and Pepper’s back. Pepper turned and gave Peter a thumbs up, motioning for him to put his earpieces back in, which he did immediately. 

Everything went back to a normal, calm level. 

“Hey Penis, what the hell was that? How do  _ you _ know the CEO?” Flash said, loud enough that Pepper turned. 

Peter huffed. “None of your business.” When he looked back again, Pepper was gone. 

MJ leaned over. “Any chance you might could get me a meeting with her? For my blog?”

Peter gave a subtle nod and MJ flashed him the closest thing he’d ever seen to a smile on her face. 

“Hello Midtown Tech!” A tour guide and Peter’s fellow intern, Blair said before Flash could make another comment. “My name is Blair and I’ll be your guide today.  Now, when I call your name, come get your visitor badge. Make sure you put it on as soon as I give it to you, or you could be kicked out of the Tower, and we don’t want that.” 

She began calling names one by one. “Eugene Thompson! Cindy Grimes!” Blair paused, quickly running a hand through her dark, frizzy curls. “Peter, where are you? Do you have your badge?” Peter stepped forward and held it up. She nodded. “And Ned Leeds, it says you have one?” Ned sheepishly held up his badge, which was usually only for the residential area and wherever Peter was, but had been upgraded to allow access to the stops on the tour. The class spent a moment gawking before turning their attention back to Blair  as she kept going down the list until every student had their badge. 

“Now, if you look at your badge, you’ll notice a symbol and a number on it. For most of you, you will have an omega symbol with a two next to it. That means you are a guest, but have a little more access than, say, paparazzi. There is also Beta, which has seven levels inside of it. Beta holders are most of our employees and certain Beta badges are marked specifically for the residential area of the tower. Finally Alpha, which has four levels. This is for extremely important individuals, which includes, you guessed it, the Avengers. There are only five people with an Alpha four pass, two of which are Pepper Potts and Tony Stark themselves.” What she didn’t say was Happy and Rhodey also were Alpha four.  And Peter. Peter was the fifth. 

At least he was usually. Today, however, he carried a Beta 7 pass, which was still high, but could be explained by a high level internship. He couldn’t exactly say he had a whole floor at Stark Tower, or lived there on weekends, or called the Tony Stark Dad without causing an actual riot.

“Go ahead and scan your badges so we can get through security and get on with the tour,” Blair said, oozing faked charm into her voice and pulling her dark lips into a practiced smile. 

As the class went through, FRIDAY announced them one by one. “Eugene Thompson. Omega Two. No materials found. Cindy Grimes. Omega Two. No materials found. Ned Leeds. Beta One. No materials found.” 

Peter shifted towards Blair, who visibly lit up when she saw him. “Hey, Mini-Stark.”

“Don’t let them hear you say that,” he said, gesturing to his classmates. “I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Blair smirked and ruffled his hair, which he quickly scrambled to fix. “Only you would get stuck on a field trip to your own workplace.”

“Tell me about it.” 

The rest of his classmates passed the checkpoint, so Peter stepped up nervously. “Peter Parker, Beta Seven. Three new prototypes, four returning, and other materials detected. All approved. Boss has been notified of your arrival.” FRIDAY said, sounding much more cheerful than she had with his classmates. 

“Thanks Fri. I brought Karen with me.” 

“Noted. Enjoy your tour, Peter.” The AI responded. “Blair Enderby. Beta Five. No new prototypes, three returning. All approved.” 

“Hey Penis, how come you have a higher level than an actual intern? And how does  _ Ned  _ have a badge?” Flash yelled. 

“I told you, I’m a high level intern. I work a lot with Mr. Stark so I have to have high access. And Ned comes and works with me sometimes.”

“See, you’re lying! You can’t be that high up as a high school intern, especially since those don’t even exist.” Flash looked entirely too smug. “You had to hack the system.”

“While you may be right most of the time, Peter is an exception,” Blair said, putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder, who blushed. “This kid worked his way into to all of our hearts and worked his way to the top. He’s smarter than most of us combined, I think. So please, I beg you, keep calling him derogatory names. I’d love to see the entire R&D department pick a fight with a high schooler. I’ll give you a tip: you won’t win.” 

Flash looked dumbstruck. “But-“

“You might want to pick up your jaw, Flash,” MJ interjected. “I’d hate for it to drag through the tour and dirty the floors.”

Flash promptly shut his mouth, giving MJ a murderous look. 

“Alright,” Blair said, running to the front of the group. “Let’s get the party started! If you will be follow me into this elevator.” 

The class piled into the excessively large elevator, which doubled as an elevator for big groups and big lab equipment. 

“FRIDAY, take us on up.” Blair said, and their tour officially began. 

“Founded by Howard Stark in 1939, Stark Industries is the largest tech conglomerate in the world. Originally, the company’s primary focus was to manufacture weapons for the US military, but after discovering his weapons in the hands of terrorists, Tony Stark, the current owner of Stark Industries, shut down the weapons manufacturing sector of the company. This tower was designed by Pepper Potts, Fiancé of Tony Stark and CEO of the company and it is the only building of its kind that is completely off the grid, running on energy generated from the arc reactor below the building. After the Tower was sold briefly a year-ish ago, the company that bought it almost threw it back at SI due to issues caused by the arc reactor. Today, we will be touring the Research and Development or R&D labs, and eventually, the Avengers museum. Any questions?” Blair said.

“What do they do in R&D?” Cindy asked from the back of the elevator. 

“Excellent question. As you will see shortly, R&D is where all of our new technology is created. Each staff member working here has a project that they either create or assist on, starting from idea to production. This is where new Stark phones are made, new robots, and more. This is where the world gets changed.”

Peter smiled. He loved working in the R&D floors. Everyone there was so smart, creative, and welcoming to him. If he wasn’t in his Dad’s lab he was definitely down here.

“Any other questions?” Blair asked. 

“Where does Peter work?” One classmate, Allen said. 

Blair gestures to Peter to answer. 

He stuttered. “I- I work a lot with Mr. Stark as his personal intern, and I work a lot in R&D but I do most of my stuff in my lab.” 

“You have a lab? Coooool,” Allen responded. 

“Yeah because Penis Parker would work with Tony Stark and have his own lab. That’s realistic.” Flash deadpanned. 

Peter shrugged. “It’s the truth.” 

Before Flash could argue, the elevator doors opened, revealing the organized chaos that was R&D. Scientists bustled about, some in formal lab coats, others with sweatpants and t shirts. That was one of the best parts about Stark Industries: no dress code. 

“As you can see here,” Blair yelled over the hustle and bustle, “we have scientists hard at work creating new technologies to make our lives better.”

“Mini Stark!” 

Peter froze. 

“Thank God you’re here. I need you to come look at my equations. I think the physics checks out but I would rather not cause another explosion.” Landon, one of the top workers in the department said, clearly not paying attention to the shocked looks on Peter’s class’s faces. 

Peter looked at Blair, who gestured for him to go. He turned to nod at Landon, who brushed his blonde hair out of his face. Peter could practically feel the girls in his class melt behind him, and he couldn’t blame them. He followed Landon to his station, where equations covered his holotable. Landon made a pinching motion, zooming in on a small section. “Just look at these, please” 

Peter paused, scanning the equations. “It looks like you have your sine and cosine switched. That’s throwing off your result, but not enough to cause an explosion.”

Landon perked up. “Thank you so much Pete! Guys I actually did physics! Well, almost.”

The other scientists in the room laughed and whooped as Peter returned to his class. 

“Mini Stark? As if” Flash hissed. “How hard did you have to beg to get him to call you that? Did you have to plead for it? Give him a few favors?”

Peter was dumbfounded. “Flash, I work here. They just think it’s funny. I didn’t beg. I got here of my own hard work.” 

“Oh yeah I bet it was really hard work on your knees.”

“Eugene Thompson, if you do not stop harassing our top intern this instant, you will be escorted from the premises.” Blair interjected. “And legal action will be taken.” She added, emphasizing ‘will’. 

Flash shut up, but Peter still felt his face burning. 

**Dad, Pepper**

**Peter** : okay i lied

**Peter** : if i don’t kill flash 

**Peter** : blair will

**Dad** : And she’ll get a promotion

**Pepper** : Seconded. 

Peter huffed a small laugh as Blair launched back into her speech about what was going on around them. 

“Now, we get to do something very exciting! Each of you will have the opportunity to build your very own robot! At least, you and your group will,” Blair announced as they entered a small room of (soundproof) glass. “Get into groups of two and find a station! You have one hour. Go!”

As students rushed to find a station at the small metal work table, Peter looked between himself, Ned and MJ, hating to split up their group. Luckily, Blair spared him from that decision.

“Hey, Pete, something tells me you don’t want to work on this, so I figured you can go around the main lab and help out.” 

Peter grinned. “Does that mean I can grab snacks and a drink?” 

Blair winked. “Only if you bring me some.”

Peter smiled brightly and left the tiny room, and immediately running to the snack counter. Once equipped with two pockets full of snacks and his usual mug filled to the brim with apple juice (he was banned from the coffee machine after the last time he pulled an all nighter and had the worst caffeine crash SI had ever seen), he patrolled up and down the lab tables, peering over shoulders, checking work and offering advice from time to time. 

It was all well and good until Ashlyn, a fellow intern Peter was helping, froze mid sentence and visibly stiffened. Peter turned in slow motion, praying something wasn’t going completely wrong. 

“That better not be coffee in that mug, kiddo.” The one and only Tony Stark said from the doorway. 

Peter laughed. “Only apple juice.”

“And you wonder why everyone thinks you’re a kid.” Tony teased with no real bite to it. He slung his arm around Peter, who leaned into the touch. “How’s it going today?” He whispered so only he could hear. 

Peter shrugged. “Could be better, could be worse.” He looked up, suddenly aware of his classmates staring at him like a creature in a zoo. 

“So what I’m hearing is Sci-fi night tonight?” When he received a small nod, he turned back to the rest of the room, pointing a finger around the room. “You better be working, don’t want the kids to think we’re lazy.” 

This received a few laughs. “Kid? Come with me, we’re gonna judge your class’ robots.” 

Peter’s face drained. “O-okay cool. Just no embarrassing nicknames please?” 

Tony just laughed and ruffled his hair, practically dragging him into the sectioned off glass room. 

“Hello students of Midtown! You know who I am, and I am here to judge your robots and see if you might be fit for an internship.” Tony sat down in a chair at the head of the table, motioning for Peter to stand behind him. Blair gave the spiderling a look, to which he wordlessly reached into his pocket, pulled out a twinkie, and gave it to her. She grinned, unwrapping it faster than what should be humanly possible. Tony looked around the table. “Who wants to go first?” Silence. “Ned, how about your group?” 

Ned looked star-struck. Clumsily, he made his was to the front with MJ, setting their creation in front of Tony. It wasn’t anything impressive, but it was leagues ahead of the most of the bots at the table. (Flash was subtly trying to repair his, but he seemingly couldn’t find a screwdriver. Blair watched, amused.) Ned glanced awkwardly at Tony, who gestured for him to start talking. 

“We, uh, built a, uhm thing-”

“We built a pencil sharpener on wheels, so if your pencil breaks you don’t have to get up.” MJ cut in. Pulling a pencil from her messy bun (“Where did that even come from?” Cindy whispered.), she whistled sharply, and the bot came whizzing over. She passed the pencil to her partner, smirking. “Care to do the honors, Ned?”

Ned took the pencil and sharpened it, producing a perfectly pointed pencil and displaying it to the class. 

“Very nice! Peter, your input?” Tony said, sitting back in his chair. 

“Uhm, I think it’s a good idea and god execution but maybe it would be better if it flew? Just so it could go anywhere?”

Tony nodded his approval. “Nevertheless, good job. And good choice,” he winked at Peter, who blushed, snaking his was closer to Ned. “Next up, how about you?” He pointed to Flash, who froze. 

“This is my bot. It can cool your drink,” he said confidently. Then, with timing better than most comedians, a bolt slid out and the bot collapsed into a pile of scraps. 

“You mean like a fridge.” Tony deadpanned. “Work like that-“ he gestured to the now ruined bot “wouldn’t get you considered for an internship here. Next.”

The class went group by group, each bot being at least functioning and each with unique ideas. “Well, it was delightful to see all of your creations. Now Peter, would you like to show them what you’re working on?” Tony said, clapping his hands. 

It wasn’t a question. “Sure Mister Stark.” Peter enunciated every syllable, knowing how the title made him feel old. Letting go of Ned’s hand and setting down his apple juice, he ran out into the main lab to retrieve his project. 

“Peter, as my personal intern, mostly works on things that concern me, specifically, the Avengers.” Tony said. 

The room broke into hushed whispers which got louder as Peter entered the room. “Like the avengers?” “The Avengers? Does he know cap?” “Wait wait is that-?”

“This is the latest prototype for Cap’s shield.” Peter said proudly. “We’ve been working on making a bigger and more maneuverable shield to increase safety and productivity in the field. As you can see, this prototype is thinner but has a larger radius. This, in theory, should protect more of Cap, but still keep the same weight and feel. Any questions?”

“Has Captain America tried it yet?” Cindy asked, leaning over the table for a better look. 

Peter smiled. “Not yet. I’m taking it up to the compound this weekend.”

“Cool,” she nodded. 

“Any other questions?”

“Do you know the Avengers?” Another classmate, Frankie said. 

“Well obviously I know Mister Stark. But other than that, yeah, I sort of have to. Since I help make their weapons I have to get to know each of them and their fighting styles to see what works best for them.” 

“Does that mean you can get a picture of Black Widow for me?” A classmate asked from the back of the room. 

“Get it yourself.” A new voice said, coming from the redhead who seemingly came from nowhere.

The class erupted. Peter shuffled next to Tony, dragging Ned with him. 

“Not bad Pete. Definitely not your worst presentation.” Tony said softly

Peter scratched the back of his neck. “At least they know I work here now.” 

Tony laughed. “That was the goal. And Blair is under instructions that if Flash bothers you anymore, he will be escorted from the building and we will be taking it to the principal.” Peter nodded, eyes wide. “Oh and Ned, you up for Sci-fi night tonight?”

“Sir, I am always up for Sci-fi night.” Ned said, excitement pouring into his voice. 

“Cool. I already sent the school something saying you would both be staying at the tower after the tour, so you don’t have to go back to school.” 

Peter’s jaw dropped dramatically. “And you didn’t tell me? Thanks a lot, Dad,” he said sassily. 

A few classmates turned from Black Widow, eyes wide. “Running joke,” Peter lied, hoping to shrug them off. While most of Stark Tower knew about their father-son dynamic (and loved to tease Peter about it), both Tony and Peter agreed to not share that with the high school due to all the issues it would cause for Peter with the press. They decided to share it the summer after Peter graduates. What Peter didn’t know was that Tony planned on announcing him as the heir to the company at the upcoming Stark Expo. But for now, he was resigned to calling it a joke. The kids turned back around slowly, as if still suspicious, but resigned. 

“Yup,” Tony said, popping the p. He shrugged. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

Peter smiled and, making sure none of his classmates were looking, gave him a quick hug. 

“Well, I need to be off. If Flash bothers you again, which he’d be stupid if he did, let me or Blair know. See you later, kiddo.” He gave Blair a ‘wrap it up’ signal and left the lab. 

“Your dad is the best.” Ned whispered where only Peter could hear. 

“I know.”

“You’re so lucky.”

Peter raised their intertwined hands and gently kissed Ned’s. “I know.”

“Y’all are disgusting.” MJ interjected. Her sketchpad, however, suggested otherwise, as it was clearly open to fresh sketch of the pair being “disgusting”. 

Before either Peter or Ned could respond, however, Blair took over. “Alright, photo op is over, thank you Miss Romanoff, but we have schedule to keep.”

Nat nodded. “See you tonight, Pete.” And with that, she was gone. 

“Okay, I think we can consider that a sneak preview of where we are going next. Any guesses?” Blair said. 

“The old Avengers rooms?” Frankie asked. 

“Nope, those are now guest suites and lab space.” Technically, part of it became Peter’s floor, where he had his bedroom, bathroom, personal guest room (usually for May), and lab. But he wasn’t about to correct her. “Any other guesses?”

Silence.

“We are going to the seventh floor, which is, drum roll please…” More silence. “The Avengers Museum!” Blair said, clearly annoyed that no one actually drum rolled. “Onward, to the elevator!”

The group followed her into the elevator, chatting quietly. Peter buzzed with excitement. 

“Who all’s stuff is in there?” Ned asked. 

“I don’t know.” Peter replied. 

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I’ve never been in there before.”

“You mean to tell me, there is an Avengers Museum in your  _ house  _ and you haven’t gone? Who are you and what have you done to my boyfriend?”

“Okay, to be fair, I literally did not know it existed until two minutes ago.” Peter said defensively. 

“Oh my god.” Ned said exasperated. 

The elevator doors opened with a ding, and the class scrambled out. Most obviously, at the center of the room sat the Mark III armour. The classic red and gold gleamed brightly, overseeing the rest of the room. 

“He’s so extra,” Peter muttered. He scanned the rest of the room, which was dedicated to the original six Avengers. Tokens from the Battle of New York were scattered through various displays, including a random business card for a shawarma restaurant (if he was being honest, Peter had no clue what that even was). He held Ned’s hand as they walked from one display to the next, absorbing as much information as they could. 

Suddenly, Ned was shaking his shoulder. “Peter! Peter look!” He pointed down a all, where Peter looked up to see one of his suits on display. The pair looked at each other and ran to the room like kids running to an ice cream truck. 

There sat a replica of the first suit Tony had ever given him. Then next to it: “Oh my god why did he do that?” Peter groaned, gesturing to his tattered homemade suit. It was proudly displayed on a mannequin, despite it being filthy and charred in places. “Where did he even get that?”

“I don’t know babe, but I think it’s art.” Ned laughed. 

“Oh my god,” Peter repeated. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the note displayed next to it. It was handwritten and signed, well, autographed really. “We all start somewhere, kiddo.” Peter read aloud. “He’s so extra.” He said wistfully. 

Suddenly, his spider sense kicked in in near catastrophic levels. Peter turned rapidly, only to see Flash standing in the doorway. He was staring at his feet. “Peter, can we talk for a minute?”

The spidey sense stayed, but calmed mildly. “Um, okay?”

“I’ll give you guys a minute,” Ned said, untangling their fingers and slipping out of the room. 

“I just wanted to say, I’ve been a jerk,” Flash said. “This trip made me realize how bad it was, and- and-” he took a breath. “I’m sorry.”

Peter looked at him. “I’m not going to say it’s okay, because it’s not. But, thank you for apologising.” 

“So do you think you can forgive me?” Flash looked up, eyes watery. 

“Not today, but yes, eventually.”

Flash smiled. “I couldn’t expect any better than that. I don’t deserve any better than that. Thank you.”

Peter studied his face. “Thank you again for apologising.” he gestured to the display. “We all have to start somewhere, right?”

The corner of Flash’s mouth twitched up. “Yeah, I guess. Will you say hi to Spider-man for me?”

Peter huffed a laugh. “I’ll pass on the message.” 

And with that, Flash turned on his heel and left. Ned walked back in hesitantly. “Everything okay?” He looked at Peter, concerned. 

Peter linked their hands together. “Yeah, actually. It’s all good.” And that was the truth. Maybe he hadn’t made it through without being a little embarrassed, but what are dads for if not to be a little embarrassing? Peter smiled to himself. Maybe this field trip wasn’t a complete disaster after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed my take on the field trip trope! Sorry if some of the characters are OOC, and I hope it wasn't too cliche... feel free to give me feedback! This work was inspired by too many to count but one of the biggest ones was How (Not) to Lay Low at Stark Industries (https://archiveofourown.org/works/15030773) Come say hi to me on tumblr, my main is @prolixology and marvel blog is @astrangesortofmagic


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